In 2007, U.S. coal, nuclear and natural gas fueled power plants generated 3,700 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. All of these power plants utilize a heat source to generate high pressure, super heated steam to rotate a steam turbine. In general, to function properly, steam turbines require steam on the order of 300° C. to 500° C. and 3 to 8 mega Pascals (Mpa) of pressure. However, after all usable heat energy has been extracted by the turbines, a significant amount of ‘low-grade waste heat’ remains—most of which is expelled into the environment via cooling towers, rivers or the ocean. In 2007, these power plants produced nearly 6,837 billion kWh of low-grade waste heat. Unfortunately, while a variety of energy generating systems have been proposed to make use of this low-grade heat, none of these systems have proven to be economically feasible.
In addition, even in situations in which higher temperature differentials are available, conventional heat engines suffer from a number of disadvantages. Specifically, conventional heat engines typically include complex mechanical and control systems that are expensive to build and maintain.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and device capable of overcoming the disadvantages described herein at least to some extent.